Method and system for transferring an electronic sum of money from a credit memory

ABSTRACT

A method and system for transferring an electronic sum of money from a credit memory associated with a money sender to an account or to a credit memory associated with a money receiver via an intelligent network in real time via user service signaling.

The present invention relates to a method and to a system fortransferring an electronic sum of money from a credit memory to anaccount or to another credit memory via an intelligent network;particularly, a mobile radio network.

Besides for use as a communication vehicle and a source of informationfor what has now become hundreds of millions of people, the Internet isbecoming increasingly important as a source of shopping. Particularlytrade in software, books and travel is already being carried out on theInternet in a significant proportion today, but also a broad spectrum ofother goods and services is increasingly being ordered and paid for overthe Internet. Paying for the relevant services on the Internet in themanner which was established originally and is still generallywidespread today requires the relevant data records to be inputseparately in each case, at least by each party to the transaction, ifnot even for the individual transaction. This mode of payment thusallows the party to the transaction to see sensitive personal data andeven to store them permanently.

The Internet now also has become considerably important for handlingother payment operations in the business and private sectors. Virtuallyall banks in industrial states offer electronic handling of accountmanagement and of payment operations in the form of “electronicbanking.”

Nevertheless, the majority of payment operations in day-to-day life are,even today, still performed using cash or by providing transfer ordirect debit orders or the like in writing, or by credit card or checkcard. In specific areas, such as in mobile radio technology, electroniccredits (“prepaid cards”) have also become significant, but considerableobstacles prevent this way of paying from being introduced on awidespread basis.

Altogether, it can be stated that, in the current state of development,there are an extremely confusing large number of options for paying forgoods or services, and using these options in day-to-day life requiresconsiderable alertness and a wide variety of media and modes of entry tobe dealt with. This is demanding and is also associated with diversesecurity risks (losing data media or credit media, forgetting accountdata and authentication codes, etc.).

Besides the Internet, telecommunications, (particularly, mobiletelecommunications) today represents an area of rapid technical andeconomic development and a significant source of economic growth and newsocial developments. For many of the people in industrial states, themobile telephone (“mobile”) is increasingly becoming a universalcommunication and information instrument and is also increasingly beingused to access goods and services. This development is also stillhindered by insufficient opportunities for reliable and, at the sametime, simple payment for information, goods and services ordered using amobile.

Although solutions exist which allow the user of a mobile, with orwithout a prepaid card, to authorize payments, which are then processedin a conventional manner by debit procedures or credit card debiting,these methods presuppose, as do payment processing procedures which nowhave been introduced on the Internet, that the purchaser is creditworthyand has authority to use a credit card or a current account with anoverdraft facility. In addition, these procedures have inherent timelags which have an adverse effect on the transparency and reliability ofthe overall processing.

The present invention is, therefore, directed toward specifying a methodand a system for simplified processing of payment transactions using adata network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention encompasses the fundamental concept of specifyinga largely universal payment method on the basis of an electronic credit(prepaid account or card) which can be used for payment processing inthe “B2C (Business-2-Consumer) sector” and also in the “C2C(Consumer-2-Consumer) sector”; that is to say, allows shopping in realand virtual shops, payment in catering or cultural establishments, etc.,and the “transfer” of sums of money in the private sector. It alsoencompasses the concept of using the opportunities of an intelligentnetwork in this regard; specifically the opportunity for processing inreal time, in particular.

In the present case, an electronic credit is understood as a memorycontent of a credit memory which can be operated via atelecommunications or data network in order to perform paymenttransactions; in principle, regardless of whether the memory actuallyhas a prepaid credit or whether a credit sum is not transferred until alater time. In the description below and in the patent claims, theholder of the prepaid credit who wishes to transfer a sum of money andis in a (real or virtual) shop as a purchaser or in a cateringestablishment as a guest is referred to generally as the “money sender.”The receiver of the sum of money to be transferred, who will usually bethe owner or operator of a shop or of a catering or culturalestablishment, or the like, in daily life, is referred to generally asthe “money receiver” below. In addition, the money receiver and themoney sender may also be applications.

The central piece in the proposed system and in the proposed method is atransaction server which accesses a transaction database storing thedata relevant for transferring prepaid credits. The transfer operationis initiated by user-to-service signaling (USS).

The sum of money to be transferred is input by the money sender orreceiver on his/her respective terminal or on a unit connected thereto;in particular, a cash register. This also can be done in the secondphase of a procedure in which USS is first used to address the transferservice, and the money sender or receiver is then asked via anannouncement or menu guidance to input the sum of money. He/she thenmakes the relevant input in response to this request.

However, it is preferable for a cohesive USSD (UnstructuredSupplementary Surface Data) string to be input on the respectiveterminal, which string includes not only a USSD code for prepaidpayments but also a specified prepaid call number for the respectiveparty to the transfer (i.e., when input is effected by the money sender,the call number of the money receiver, and vice versa) and the sum ofmoney to be transferred (expediently separated by a star). The USSD codefor prepaid payments is a predetermined sequence of digits andcharacters (e.g., *94#).

An “originating trigger” in the switch of the respective caller (moneyreceiver or money sender) is used to identify the USSD string as such,and the switching center (switch) uses a suitable protocol to transmitthe USSD string to the transaction server, which on receiving the stringstarts the requested application; namely, the money transfer service.The transfer involves, in particular, accessing the transaction database(or possibly even another user database in the intelligent network, forexample the HLR=Home Location Register in a mobile radio network) tocheck the call number from which the call is being made. The applicationis started only if the call is being made by a registered user of theservice. When the present invention is implemented in a mobile radionetwork, the transfer protocol used is the MAP (Mobile Application Part)protocol, in particular, which represents a mobile network-specificextension of the known signaling system No 7.

This application is preferably used within the scope of a subscriptionby the money receiver. In this context, the money receiver normally willspecify a bank account to which the money transferred to his/herelectronic credit memory within the scope of the prepaid shoppingapplication is ultimately transferred. The transaction currency also canbe specified. The money sender does not need to take out a subscriptionfor the money transfer procedure. For security reasons, however, it ispreferable for the money transfer to be authorized using predeterminedauthentication processes; in this regard, see below.

The preferred subscription to the service by the money receiver likewiseis not absolutely necessary. With no formal subscription, however, it isnot possible to specify any bank details, wherein the sum of moneytransferred to the electronic credit memory (“prepaid account”) cannotbe transferred further. Since, additionally, a currency cannot bespecified, the application is normally limited to the currency which isvalid in the country of the money sender or receiver. In this form, themethod is particularly suitable for the transfer of money betweenprivate persons (“C2C”).

When the connection or connections have been set up to the transactionserver using USS, the rest of the inputs and outputs required can bemade using USSD, using a voice connection with voice input or DTMF inputand voice output or via the exchange of text messages (particularly, SMSor e-mail) or using the WAP (wireless application protocol) or elseusing a combination of these or using an Internet protocol used in thefuture.

The aforementioned subscription process involves a data record relatingto the money receiver being stored in the transaction database(“shopping database”). The money receiver's account needs to be suitablefor the management of electronic credits. Likewise, it can be a prepaidaccount, in particular. The money receiver can use a number of telephonenumbers and a number of destination accounts for the transfer of money,in which case all the telephone numbers to be used and accountidentifiers for all the accounts naturally need to be stored in theshopping database. (The term “account identifier” is understood below tobe an account number or an account code and the possibly required serveraddress of an external server on which the account is managed, as awhole.) Besides the aforementioned data, the money receiver data recordstored in the transaction database also includes a name or company name.

Besides the information relating to the money receiver, the shoppingdatabase preferably also contains the information about the money senderwhich is required for performing the money transfer. This money senderdata record contains the account number of his/her prepaid account and,if required, the server address of an external server on which theprepaid credit is managed (also occasionally referred to in the presentcase as “account identifier” below). It may also contain the server andoperator names and, finally, an authentication data record forauthenticating larger money transfers at least optionally on a case bycase basis. The “address” or “key” used for this data record ispreferably the money sender's call number.

The money sender data record can also be stored in a separate prepaiddatabase.

A fundamental security component is the aforementioned authenticationdata record within the money sender data record. The authentication datarecord includes, in particular, an authentication code (PIN or the like)and/or biometric data for the money sender (e.g., papillary line orretina pattern), which code and data are used for authorizing moneytransfers on a case-by-case basis. This code and these data are input onthe money sender's terminal or on an input unit associated therewith,are transmitted to the transaction server and are compared there withthe corresponding stored data. As a result of the comparison, thetransaction is enabled or blocked. The money sender's PIN or biometricdata also can be input on a cash register device connected to the moneyreceiver's terminal or on an associated input unit.

If the money sender has not been authenticated in this way at the verystart of the money transfer process, the authentication data need to berequested. In a first embodiment, this can be done by calling the moneysender's terminal and transmitting an announcement which quotes the sumof money to be used and asks the money sender to confirm it using theagreed authentication data record (PIN, biometric data or the like).Secondly, USSD or SMS can be used to send to the money sender a suitablyformulated request and the sum of money to be confirmed, and the moneysender responds using USSD or an SMS which contains the PIN or otherauthentication data. The third option is for the PIN or the like to berequested from the money sender via a WAP push page quoting the sum ofmoney to be confirmed.

In one preferred embodiment of the method, the aforementionedauthorization steps are not performed for very small sums, but only forsums of money which exceed a predetermined threshold value. Thisthreshold value can be set and changed by the service provider or themoney sender himself/herself.

The proposed solution includes the function blocks (1) start the moneytransfer procedure, (2) debit the money sender and (3) credit the moneyreceiver. These function blocks can be executed on one and the sameserver or on different servers, which is/are collectively referred to bythe term “transaction server.” The server or servers can exist centrallywith a service provider or in a number of hardware implementations withthis service provider or else with a number of service providers. Theprepaid shopping application has, as already mentioned above, access toa “shopping database” which (according to the specific network andapplication concept) likewise can be provided centrally at one point,distributed over a number of points or else in a number of copies atvarious points.

The method and system are in the simplest form when the money sender'sprepaid credit, the money receiver's destination account and the prepaidshopping application itself are managed or operated with one and thesame service provider. If this is not the case, clearing (known as such)needs to take place for the money transfer. For this process, thedocumentation produced for the debiting and crediting process,particularly in the form of “log records”, can be used.

As a real time method, the proposed method affords improved transparencyand reliability as compared with known payment processing methods andcan be used, in particular, by people who have not been granted a creditfacility. The user need merely have a prepaid credit ensuring sufficientcoverage of the envisaged money transfer.

In addition, the proposed system affords the considerable advantage thatthe electronic money held in a prepaid account can be used not only forpaying for a service having a narrow specification (specifically,telephone calls), but also in diverse ways for paying for goods,service, information, etc., in real or in virtual sales establishmentsof all kinds. Prepayment of the credit gives the user strict costcontrol and, in principle, it is not possible to get into debtunintentionally. As such, this method can be used with particularadvantage for minors (or else for older people who are no longer in fullpossession of their mental faculties) as well, for whom there has beenno comparable application to date. For paying for goods and servicesfrom different suppliers, the money receiver no longer requires a numberof prepaid cards or terminals, but rather only need store a singleprepaid call number.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription of the Invention and the Figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a greatly simplified function block diagram of a firstembodiment of the inventive system.

FIG. 2 shows a greatly simplified function block diagram of a secondembodiment of the invention system.

FIG. 3 shows a greatly simplified function block diagram of a thirdembodiment of the inventive system.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of fundamental steps in theproposed application for the system shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It should be pointed out that, in FIG. 1, the assumption is made thatthe prepaid shopping application runs on the same server as that onwhich prepaid accounts of the money receiver and money sender aremanaged. By contrast, FIG. 2 shows the situation in which prepaidaccounts of the money sender and money receiver are managed on adifferent server (belonging to the same operator B1) than that on whichthe prepaid shopping application is running. FIG. 3 shows the situationin which the prepaid shopping application and prepaid accounts which itoperates are managed on different servers belonging to differentoperators B1, B2. FIGS. 1 to 3 show the case in which the transactionserver is called by the money receiver's terminal, which is controlledby a cash register device. If the figures are modified by replacing theconnection between the money receiver's switch and the server with aconnection between the money sender's switch and the server, they showthe case in which the money sender calls the transaction server.

The money transfer process is initiated by virtue of a USSD string ofthe type specified further above being sent by the terminal of the moneyreceiver or money sender, with that part of the data string whichspecifies the sum of money being supplied by the cash register deviceconnected to the terminal. Provided that the price has not been input inconnection with the signaling process, the prepaid shopping applicationstarts an announcement which asks the calling party to input the price.The caller then inputs the price.

The prepaid shopping application activated by the USSD string on thetransaction server then transfers the data required for transferring themoney (in particular the call numbers of money receiver and money senderand the sum of money) to a prepaid application on a correspondingserver. This can be the transaction server itself (FIG. 1) or at leastone server belonging to the same operator (FIG. 2) or at least oneserver belonging to another operator (FIG. 3). The applications can alsorun on different servers, having been distributed in modules.

When the data have been transmitted, wherein the money transferprocedure has been started, a checking process is first carried out todetermine whether the data medium is valid and whether the sum in themoney sender's prepaid account is sufficient for the envisaged transferprocess. If both are the case, the money sender is asked to inputhis/her PIN in order to authorize the debit operation on the sum ofmoney to be transferred.

The checking process involves the prepaid shopping application accessingthe shopping database and reading the money receiver data record and themoney sender data record with the information contained thereinregarding which server or which servers (and which operator or whichoperators) hold the accounts of the money receiver and the money sender.The server belonging to the money sender is identified and, if it is aserver other than that on which the prepaid shopping application isrunning, a real time connection to a prepaid shopping applicationrunning on this foreign server is set up.

The prepaid shopping application on the money sender's server is sent arequest to check whether the electronic credit in the money sender'sprepaid account is sufficient for the envisaged money transfer. If thisis not the case, the transfer is terminated with a corresponding advicesignal to the terminal of the money receiver and/or money sender. If thesum of money to be transferred is covered, it is reserved in the moneysender's prepaid account.

The aforementioned authorization is given by virtue of the money senderinputting the PIN on the money receiver's cash register. The PIN whichis input is compared with the PIN stored in the money sender datarecord. If it is valid, the debiting process is initiated. If it is notvalid, the transaction is terminated at this point and a correspondingadvice signal is again transmitted.

The sum of money to be transferred is then debited from the moneysender's prepaid account. This process is time critical and is performedin real time. If the money sender's prepaid account is on the sameserver as the prepaid shopping application, the credit can immediately(in real time) be reduced by the sum of money to be transferred. If theaccount is on a foreign server, the debit request needs to be made tothe prepaid shopping application on that server, and the debit operationis performed under that application's regime. In each case, a log recordis produced for the debiting process, and the money receiver is informedabout the debit operation having been performed via the cash registersystem or a call or by SMS or the like.

The sum of money to be transferred is then credited to the moneyreceiver's account, which can be a prepaid account, a real time accountor a normal bank current account. This process is not time critical butneeds to take place with the utmost reliability. In this case, too, adistinction needs to be made between the aforementioned variants fordebiting, according to whether or not the account is managed on aforeign server. A log record is also produced for the crediting process.

Specific advantages of the procedure described as an exemplaryembodiment using a USSD string are that the money sender can remainanonymous, and long call numbers do not need to be exchanged betweenmoney sender, money receiver and transaction server, but rather a datastring need be output just once. In addition, this is done essentiallyautomatically by the money receiver's cash register system. Thisshortens the time for the transaction process and reduces the rate oferror during input. For each transaction, the money receiver or moneysender need call the transaction server and input the sum of money justonce, and saves time for other activities. Furthermore, the inputs usingUSSD can be made on any terminal which is customary today.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, those of skill in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention without departing from the hereafter appendedclaims.

1. A method for transferring an electronic sum of money in real timefrom a money sender credit memory, which contains a prepaid credit, to amoney receiver credit memory via a mobile radio network, the methodcomprising the steps of: storing a money receiver data record, includingat least one call number for a money receiver terminal in thetelecommunications network, and an account identifier for the moneyreceiver credit memory, in at least one of a transaction database and acredit management database, with the at least the call number beingstored in the transaction database, within a context of a subscriptionof the money receiver to a money transfer service with a serviceprovider; storing a money sender data record, including at least onecall number for a terminal, an account identifier for the money sendercredit memory and an authentication data record for the money sender, inat least one of the transaction database and the credit managementdatabase; setting up a connection between one of the money receiverterminal and the money sender terminal and a transaction serverassociated with the service provider using a user-to-service signalingdata string which specifies a money transfer service; inputting the sumof money to be transferred and a specification of a respective party tothe money transfer on the terminal of the respective party andtransmitting same to the transaction server, wherein the sum of money tobe transferred is coded in a signaling data string comprising a USSDdata string for a mobile radio network, based on one of a GSM standardand an UMTS standard, and is transferred to the transaction server basedon a MAP protocol by accessing a home location register; reading, viathe transaction server, the money receiver data record and the moneysender data record from the transaction database; evaluating, via thetransaction server, the money receiver data record and, the money senderdata record, wherein the step of evaluating includes setting up anoptionally required data link to at least one external application;checking a coverage of the sum of money in the money sender creditmemory; reserving the sum of money if the sum of money is covered;terminating the process with signaling if the sum of money is notcovered; debiting the sum of money from the money sender credit memory,and documenting same, if the sum of money is covered; crediting the sumof money to the money receiver credit memory, and documenting same, ifthe sum of money is covered; and transmitting respective informationabout at least one of the debit operation and the credit operation to atleast one of the money receiver terminal and the money sender terminal.2. A method for transferring an electronic sum of money as claimed inclaim 1, the method further comprising the steps of: coding the callnumber of the money receiver stored in the transaction database in asignaling data string transmitted by the money sender; and coding thecall number of the money sender stored in the transaction database in asignaling data string coming from the money receiver.
 3. A method fortransferring an electronic sum of money as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe authentication data record in the money sender data record includesone of an authentication code and biometric data for the money senderand, before the debit operation step, authorization of the debitoperation is performed which further comprises the steps of: inputtingone of the authentication code and the biometric data, by the moneysender, on a respective terminal; transmitting the input to thetransaction server; comparing the transmitted data with the data held inthe money sender data record; outputting a debit enable signal if thereis a match between the transmitted data and the data held in the moneysender data record; and outputting a debit blocking signal if there isno match between the transmitted data and the data held in the moneysender data record.
 4. A method for transferring an electronic sum ofmoney as claimed in claim 3, the method further comprising the step ofperforming authorization of the debit operation for a sum of money whichexceeds a predetermined threshold value which can be set by one of theservice provider and the money sender.
 5. A method for transferring anelectronic sum of money as claimed in claim 3, wherein one of theauthentication code and the biometric data is input in the course of theconnection set up on a primary basis between one of the money receiverterminal and the money sender terminal and the transaction server.
 6. Amethod for transferring an electronic sum of money as claimed in claim3, wherein one of the authentication code and the biometric data isinput in the course of a connection set up on a secondary basis betweenthe transaction server and the money sender terminal as a result of arequest transmitted by the transaction server.
 7. A method fortransferring an electronic sum of money as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe request coming from the transaction server is output as one of avoice message, a text message in SMS format, and a WAP push page.
 8. Amethod for transferring an electronic sum of money as claimed in claim1, wherein the method is performed by setting up a data link to at leastone external server on which at least one of the money sender creditmemory and the money receiver credit memory are managed, with at leastone of the account identifier of the money receiver data record and theaccount identifier of the money sender data record including one of aserver address and a server call number, and the transaction serverbeing connected thereto after reading out the money receiver data recordand the money sender data record in order to perform subsequent steps.9. A method for transferring an electronic sum of money as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the money receiver takes out a subscription with theservice provider using at least one of a plurality of accounts and aplurality of call numbers, with a number of accounts being less than anumber of call numbers, and with all corresponding account identifiersand the call numbers being stored in the money receiver data record. 10.A system for transferring an electronic sum of money in real time from amoney sender credit memory, which contains a prepaid credit, to a moneyreceiver credit memory via an intelligent network, the systemcomprising: at least one account management server having the moneysender credit memory and the money receiver credit memory; a terminalconnected to the telecommunications and data network, the terminal beingone of a money sender terminal and a money receiver terminal; atransaction database associated with a service provider, which stores amoney receiver data record, including at least one of a transaction callnumber of the money receiver terminal and an account identifier for themoney receiver credit memory, and a money sender data record includingat least one of a call number of the money sender terminal and anaccount identifier for the money sender credit memory, and optionally anauthentication data record; and a transaction server connected to thetransaction database, to at least one of the money sender terminal andthe money receiver terminal via a signaling data protocol, and to theaccount management server, for reading and evaluating the money receiverdata record and the money sender data record from one of the transactiondatabase and the account management server, and for setting up anoptionally required data link to at least one external application andfor controlling a coverage check and a debit operation in the moneysender credit memory and a credit operation of the money receiver creditmemory, wherein the transaction server documents a debit operation and acredit operation in; wherein the intelligent network includes a mobileradio network, at least one of the money sender terminal and the moneyreceiver terminal being a mobile radio terminal, the transaction serverhaving an associated mobile radio terminal, and the signaling dataprotocol being implemented as an MAP protocol.
 11. A system fortransferring an electronic sum of money as claimed in claim 10, whereinthe transaction database and at least one of the money sender creditmemory and the money receiver credit memory are implemented on thetransaction server.
 12. A system for transferring an electronic sum ofmoney as claimed in claim 10, wherein the transaction server hasassociated telecommunication capabilities for signaling termination ofat least one of a transaction, a debit operation and a credit operationto the money sender terminal.
 13. A system for transferring anelectronic sum of money as claimed in claim 10, wherein the moneyreceiver terminal has a connected cash register device for automaticallyproducing a signaling data string section specifying the sum of money tobe transferred.
 14. A system for transferring an electronic sum of moneyas claimed in claim 13, wherein the cash register device includes partsfor the money sender to input one of an authentication code andbiometric data.
 15. A method for transferring an electronic sum of moneyin real time from a money sender credit memory, which contains a prepaidcredit, to a money receiver credit memory via a mobile radio network,the method comprising the steps of: storing a money receiver datarecord, including at least one call number for a money receiver terminalin the telecommunications network and an account identifier for themoney receiver credit memory, in at least one of a transaction databaseand a credit management database, with at least the call number beingstored in the transaction database, within a context of a subscriptionof the money receiver to a money transfer service with a serviceprovider; storing a money sender data record, including at least onecall number for a terminal, an account identifier for the money sendercredit memory and an authentication data record for the money sender, inat least one of the transaction database and the credit managementdatabase; setting up a connection between one of the money receiverterminal and the money sender terminal and a transaction serverassociated with the service provider using a user-to-service signalingdata string which specifies a money transfer service; inputting the sumof money to be transferred and a specification of a respective party tothe money transfer on the terminal of the respective party andtransmitting same to the transaction server; coding the call number ofthe money receiver stored in the transaction database in a signalingdata string transmitted by the money sender; coding the call number ofthe money sender stored in the transaction database in a signaling datastring coming from the money receiver; reading, via the transactionserver, the money receiver data record; evaluating, via the transactionserver, the money receiver data record, wherein the step of evaluatingcomprises setting up an optionally required data link to at least oneexternal application; checking a coverage of the sum of money in themoney sender credit memory; reserving the sum of money if the sum ofmoney is covered; terminating the process with signaling if the sum ofmoney is not covered; debiting the sum of money from the money sendercredit memory, and documenting same, if the sum of money is covered;crediting the sum of money to the money receiver credit memory, anddocumenting same, if the sum of money is covered; and transmittingrespective information about at least one of the debit operation and thecredit operation to at least one of the money receiver terminal and themoney sender terminal.
 16. A method for transferring an electronic sumof money in real time from a money sender credit memory, which containsa prepaid credit, to a money receiver credit memory via a mobile radionetwork, the method comprising the steps of: storing a money receiverdata record, including at least one call number for a money receiverterminal in the telecommunications network and an account identifier forthe money receiver credit memory, in at least one of a transactiondatabase and a credit management database, with at least the call numberbeing stored in the transaction database, within a context of asubscription of the money receiver to a money transfer service with aservice provider; storing a money sender data record, including at leastone call number for a terminal, an account identifier for the moneysender credit memory and an authentication data record for the moneysender, in at least one of the transaction database and the creditmanagement database; setting up a connection between one of the moneyreceiver terminal and the money sender terminal and a transaction serverassociated with the service provider using a user-to-service signalingdata string which specifies a money transfer service; inputting the sumof money to be transferred and a specification of a respective party tothe money transfer on the terminal of the respective party andtransmitting same to the transaction server; reading, via thetransaction server, the money receiver data record and the money senderdata record from the transaction database; setting up a data link to atleast one external server on which at least one of the money sendercredit memory and the money receiver credit memory are managed, with atleast one of the account identifier of the money receiver data recordand the account identifier of the money sender data record including oneof a server address and a server call number, and the transaction serverbeing connected thereto after reading out the money receiver data recordand the money sender data record; evaluating, via the transactionserver, the money receiver data record and, the money sender datarecord, including setting up an optionally required data link to atleast one external application; checking a coverage of the sum of moneyin the money sender credit memory; reserving the sum of money if the sumof money is covered; terminating the process with signaling if the sumof money is not covered; debiting the sum of money from the money sendercredit memory, and documenting same, if the sum of money is covered;crediting the sum of money to the money receiver credit memory, anddocumenting same, if the sum of money is covered; and transmittingrespective information about at least one of the debit operation and thecredit operation to at least one of the money receiver terminal and themoney sender terminal.
 17. A method for transferring an electronic sumof money in real time from a money sender credit memory, which containsa prepaid credit, to a money receiver credit memory via a mobile radionetwork, the method comprising the steps of: storing a money receiverdata record, including at least one call number for a money receiverterminal in the telecommunications network and an account identifier forthe money receiver credit memory, in at least one of a transactiondatabase and a credit management database, with at least the call numberbeing stored in the transaction database, within a context of asubscription of the money receiver to a money transfer service with aservice provider; storing a money sender data record, including at leastone call number for a terminal, an account identifier for the moneysender credit memory and an authentication data record for the moneysender, in at least one of the transaction database and the creditmanagement database; setting up a connection between one of the moneyreceiver terminal and the money sender terminal and a transaction serverassociated with the service provider using a user-to-service signalingdata string which specifies a money transfer service, wherein the moneyreceiver takes out a subscription with the service provider using atleast one of a plurality of accounts and a plurality of call numbers,with a number of accounts being less than a number of call numbers, andwith all corresponding account identifiers and the call numbers beingstored in the money receiver data record; inputting the sum of money tobe transferred and a specification of a respective party to the moneytransfer on the terminal of the respective party and transmitting sameto the transaction server; reading, via the transaction server, themoney receiver data record and, the money sender data record from thetransaction database; evaluating, via the transaction server, the moneyreceiver data record and, the money sender data record, includingsetting up an optionally required data link to at least one externalapplication; checking a coverage of the sum of money in the money sendercredit memory; reserving the sum of money if the sum of money iscovered; terminating the process with signaling if the sum of money isnot covered; debiting the sum of money from the money sender creditmemory, and documenting same, if the sum of money is covered; creditingthe sum of money to the money receiver credit memory, and documentingsame, if the sum of money is covered; and transmitting respectiveinformation about at least one of the debit operation and the creditoperation to at least one of the money receiver terminal and the moneysender terminal.
 18. A system for transferring an electronic sum ofmoney in real time from a money sender credit memory, which contains aprepaid credit, to a money receiver credit memory via an intelligentnetwork, the system comprising: at least one account management serverhaving the money sender credit memory and the money receiver creditmemory; a terminal connected to the telecommunications and data network,the terminal being one of a money sender terminal and a money receiverterminal; a transaction database associated with a service provider,which stores a money receiver data record, including at least one of atransaction call number of the money receiver terminal and an accountidentifier for the money receiver credit memory, and a money sender datarecord including at least one of a call number of the money senderterminal and an account identifier for the money sender credit memory,and optionally an authentication data record; and a transaction serverconnected to the transaction database, to at least one of the moneysender terminal and the money receiver terminal via a signaling dataprotocol, and to the account management server, for reading andevaluating the money receiver data record and the money sender datarecord from one of the transaction database and the account managementserver, and for setting up an optionally required data link to at leastone external application and for controlling a coverage check and adebit operation in the money sender credit memory and a credit operationof the money receiver credit memory, wherein the intelligent networkincludes a mobile radio network, at least one of the money senderterminal and the money receiver terminal being a mobile radio terminal,the transaction server having an associated mobile radio terminal, andthe signaling data protocol being implemented as an MAP protocol.
 19. Asystem for transferring an electronic sum of money in real time from amoney sender credit memory, which contains a prepaid credit, to a moneyreceiver credit memory via an intelligent network, the systemcomprising: at least one account management server having the moneysender credit memory and the money receiver credit memory; a terminalconnected to the telecommunications and data network, the terminal beingone of a money sender terminal and a money receiver terminal; atransaction database associated with a service provider, which stores amoney receiver data record, including at least one of a transaction callnumber of the money receiver terminal and an account identifier for themoney receiver credit memory, and a money sender data record includingat least one of a call number of the money sender terminal and anaccount identifier for the money sender credit memory, and optionally anauthentication data record; and a transaction server connected to thetransaction database, to at least one of the money sender terminal andthe money receiver terminal via a signaling data protocol, and to theaccount management server, for reading and evaluating the money receiverdata record and the money sender data record from one of the transactiondatabase and the account management server, and for setting up anoptionally required data link to at least one external application andfor controlling a coverage check and a debit operation in the moneysender credit memory and a credit operation of the money receiver creditmemory, wherein the transaction database and at least one of the moneysender credit memory and the money receiver credit memory areimplemented on the transaction server.
 20. A system for transferring anelectronic sum of money in real time from a money sender credit memory,which contains a prepaid credit, to a money receiver credit memory viaan intelligent network, the system comprising: at least one accountmanagement server having the money sender credit memory and the moneyreceiver credit memory; a terminal connected to the telecommunicationsand data network, the terminal being one of a money sender terminal anda money receiver terminal; a transaction database associated with aservice provider, which stores a money receiver data record, includingat least one of a transaction call number of the money receiver terminaland an account identifier for the money receiver credit memory, and amoney sender data record including at least one of a call number of themoney sender terminal and an account identifier for the money sendercredit memory, and optionally an authentication data record; and atransaction server connected to the transaction database, to at leastone of the money sender terminal and the money receiver terminal via asignaling data protocol, and to the account management server, forreading and evaluating the money receiver data record and the moneysender data record from one of the transaction database and the accountmanagement server, and for setting up an optionally required data linkto at least one external application and for controlling a coveragecheck and a debit operation in the money sender credit memory and acredit operation of the money receiver credit memory, wherein thetransaction server has associated telecommunication capabilities forsignaling termination of at least one of a transaction, a debitoperation and a credit operation to the money sender terminal.
 21. Asystem for transferring an electronic sum of money in real time from amoney sender credit memory, which contains a prepaid credit, to a moneyreceiver credit memory via an intelligent network, the systemcomprising: at least one account management server having the moneysender credit memory and the money receiver credit memory; a terminalconnected to the telecommunications and data network, the terminal beingone of a money sender terminal and a money receiver terminal; atransaction database associated with a service provider, which stores amoney receiver data record, including at least one of a transaction callnumber of the money receiver terminal and an account identifier for themoney receiver credit memory, and a money sender data record includingat least one of a call number of the money sender terminal and anaccount identifier for the money sender credit memory, and optionally anauthentication data record; and a transaction server connected to thetransaction database, to at least one of the money sender terminal andthe money receiver terminal via a signaling data protocol, and to theaccount management server, for reading and evaluating the money receiverdata record and the money sender data record from one of the transactiondatabase and the account management server, and for setting up anoptionally required data link to at least one external application andfor controlling a coverage check and a debit operation in the moneysender credit memory and a credit operation of the money receiver creditmemory, wherein the money receiver terminal has a connected cashregister device for automatically producing a signaling data stringsection specifying the sum of money to be transferred.